For the third time in a row, Sachin Tendulkar was on Tuesday done in by poor umpiring in the current one-day cricket series against Sri Lanka, being declared leg before wicket in yet another dubious decision.
Tendulkar was declared leg-before in the first ODI in Dambulla when the ball was clearly pitched outside the leg stump; he fell LBW again in the second ODI when the ball was missing the leg stump, and was again ruled out leg-before by Sri Lankan umpire Gamini Silva when the ball was going down the leg side by an even wider margin.
The three umpiring errors have meant that Tendulkar has made scores of 5, 6 and 7 in the series so far.
True to his character, Tendulkar has not shown any dissent although his disappointment was palpable.
India coach Gary Kirsten was seen shaking his head in disbelief after watching television replays of Tendulkar's dismissal in the dressing room.
The champion batsman, who was in excellent form in the recent series against Australia and England, suddenly finds himself going through a lean patch for no fault of his.
Tendulkar has compiled 16,433 runs in 421 one-day matches at an average of 44.05, while he has an even better average of 54.27 in the longer version of the game in which he has accumulated 12,429 runs in 156 matches.
Do you think it is a case of sheer bad luck for Tendulkar, or simply poor umpiring? Should the BCCI take it up?
